Quezon City 3rd District Rep. Franz Pumaren on Thursday said he has flagged the alleged practice of some medical clinics accredited by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) of charging excessive and unexplained miscellaneous fees to driver's license applicants.
Pumaren revealed that driver’s license applicants are being charged approximately ₱140 in miscellaneous fees and ₱60 as a computer fee, on top of the ₱300 medical examination fee by these LTO-accredited clinics. Pumaren added that the clinics failed to explain what these additional amounts cover when asked by his team.
“They said these miscellaneous fees are part of the IT charges. This practice is widespread among medical clinics. We are holding this hearing to ensure the public is not burdened by excess expenses, such as convenience, computer, and miscellaneous fees,” Pumaren said.
It can be recalled that the lawmaker, who headed the House Committee on Transportation (COTr), during a hearing on March 7 pointed to Stradcom Corporation, the local IT proponent of the LTO-IT System, which declared that none of the so-called fees were paid to it, and that this has been the case for several years.
Pumaren also questioned the LTO’s accreditation of multiple medical IT providers despite already having two IT service providers: Stradcom and the foreign company Dermalog Identification Systems GmbH, which developed the Land Transportation Management System (LTMS).
Former LTO chief Edgar Galvante, under the previous administration, required the electronic submission of medical examination results in 2019, and medical clinics were allowed to choose their preferred medical IT provider, so long as these were accredited by the agency.
One of the six accredited medical IT providers present during the hearing was Edgecomm Total Solutions, Inc. (Edgecomm), which claimed to have introduced computerized medical examinations in LTO in 2012. The company added that its LTO accreditation is renewable annually. However, Pumaren argued that Edgecomm’s role already appears redundant.
“My point is that Edgecomm seems like a middleman, since it also sends medical results to Stradcom. In fact, Stradcom claims it can provide the same services,” Pumaren said.
The LTO admitted it does not monitor the pricing of miscellaneous fees charged by medical clinics but clarified that payments from additional fees do not go to the government.
LTO Executive Director Atty. Martin Ontog said the agency will review all accreditations to cut unnecessary processes and fees for the benefit of the motoring public.
"We would like to follow the due process of the investigation and assess if the fees charged are fair. The end game here is an improved LTO that provides better services for the people," Pumaren told DAILY TRIBUNE.